Chapter 286 The Wind Rises in the Atlantic XI

The Leipzig was finished! It was targeted by the battleship Revenge.

Originally, the flagship of the Home Fleet was going to sneak up on the Scharnhorst until it was discovered by the enemy's radar. But they didn't expect that the 280mm cannon of the Scharnhorst was so accurate that only 10 salvos made the London burst into flames and lose its combat capability.

According to this method, the other three heavy cruisers and a light cruiser equipped with radar that Admiral Forbes arranged to ambush would not be able to entangle for long before they would be sunk and crippled by the Scharnhorst, and the ambush that he had worked so hard on would be in vain.

So Admiral Forbes had no choice but to order the bombardment of the Leipzig to scare the Scharnhorst - this decision was later considered a serious mistake, and Admiral Charles Forbes retired from active service.

However, judging from the effect at that time, there was nothing wrong with Admiral Charles Forbes' decision. After all, the "Scharnhorst" was a battleship. Even if Forbes put in a few more heavy cruisers, it might not be able to damage and slow it down.

When the cannon of the "Revenge" sounded, the "Scharnhorst" really did not dare to fight, and turned around to protect the "Seydlitz" and escape.

The "Southampton" class light cruiser "Sheffield" and three other heavy cruisers equipped with search radar followed the "Scharnhorst" far behind. Because the "Sheffield" has radar, they can follow beyond visual range without being hit by the three 280mm cannons at the stern of the "Scharnhorst".

Therefore, the whereabouts of the "Scharnhorst" and the "Seydlitz" were completely mastered by the British fleet!

And only by mastering the whereabouts of the opponent can the fleet be mobilized to pursue and intercept! From this perspective, it was completely worthwhile to sacrifice the London and five merchant ships, and they also recovered some of their capital by sinking a light cruiser, the Leipzig.

In the command tower of the battleship Revenge, Admiral Forbes, after listening to the report on the loss of the London (basically scrapped), just nodded slightly and said, "Okay, we caught them! This time we really caught them!"

They were found by plane before, but it was useless because the British carrier-based aircraft were too bad and were completely targets for the Focke-Zero. Now they are "caught" by the radar of the light cruiser, and there is basically no escape.

"Okay, now it's time for the Hood to go out!" Charles Forbes whispered, "Only she can sink the Scharnhorst."

It's really sad to say that the British Royal Navy, which has dominated the ocean for hundreds of years, now has only one Hood to use when facing the Scharnhorst and the Seydlitz!

"Where is our Hood?" Forbes walked to the chart table, where the staff had already marked the positions of the Hood and the Ark Royal on the chart.

"Admiral, they are here, about 500 nautical miles northwest of the Azores."

"So where is the Scharn fleeing now?"

"Southwest, in the direction of the Azores." Rear Admiral Phillips said, "You can let the Hood and the Ark Royal go to intercept. We are in the east, the F Fleet is in the north, and the H Fleet is in the south, so they can only flee to the west."

If there was no radar on the Sheffield, the Scharnhorst and the Seydlitz could have passed through the F Fleet, the I Fleet, and the H Fleet. But the two German battleships being tracked by the radar now dare not do so, and Lieutenant General Marshal does not want to do so either.

"Give the submarines electricity and let them turn around and return to the waters near the Azores." Vice Admiral Marshal said, "Let's fight the Hood there, at night... It should be tomorrow night!"

The main gun of the "Scharnhorst" is only 280mm, which is no match for the 15-inch main gun of the "Hood". The armor of the "Scharn" cannot withstand the 15-inch gun of the "Hood", and the armor defense of the "Hood" will not be sunk by the 280mm gun in theory.

However, it is not so easy for the armor defense of the "Hood" to withstand the G7 series (diameter 50 or 53.3cm, weight more than 1.5 tons) torpedoes used by German submarines.

And if you want to send out submarines to attack, it is best to choose a night battle. Moreover, the "Scharnhorst" also has radar. Although the current radar technology can still be used for fire control, it can still be an auxiliary aiming method and can also indicate the direction of the submarine.

…

During the daytime of October 13, the speed advantage of the "Scharnhorst" and "Seydlitz" was once again evident. The two German fleets sped across the Atlantic, leaving the British I Fleet, H Fleet and F Fleet far behind (their average speed was 10 knots slower than the "Scharnhorst" and "Seydlitz"), with only one British light cruiser and three British heavy cruisers following cautiously.

The "Seydlitz" also dispatched 18 sorties of Fokker 99 to bomb the British cruisers that were following. Among them, a turret of the "Kent" class heavy cruiser "Cumberland" was penetrated by a PC-250 bomb dropped by the Fokker 99, which severely damaged it and withdrew from the pursuit. However, the "Sheffield" equipped with radar was very lucky. In the two air raids launched by the "Seydlitz", it was not the target of attack.

After completing the second air raid, the Fokker 99 of the "Seydlitz" began to act as a reconnaissance aircraft, and together with three Ar-196s, they conducted a careful search of the sea areas in the east, north and west directions.

"Lieutenant General, the Ar-196 has found the 'Hood' and the 'Royal Ark'."

At 4:26 pm, Major General Reifman reported the discovery of the Ar-196 seaplane to Lieutenant General Mashar.

"120 nautical miles away, also heading towards the Azores," Leifman said, "obviously trying to block us!"

"Where are the submarines?"

"They are around!" Leifman replied, "We are now less than 100 nautical miles from the Azores."

"Okay!" Marshal nodded heavily, "Let the 'Seydlitz' sortie for the last time. Except for 8 direct-cover aircraft, all the others will launch bombs to bomb the British cruisers following us! And we... now also bombard them and drive them away."

The purpose of driving away the British cruisers following behind is to allow the "Seydlitz" to break away. This is an aircraft carrier and cannot participate in the artillery battle with the "Hood". According to the plan, the "Seydlitz" will use the night and radio silence to bypass the Azores and then go north to wait for the "Scharnhorst" somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. After that, they will pass through the waters north of Iceland and return to Germany or go to the Soviet port for temporary shelter.

At 5 pm, the air raid and artillery bombardment began one after another. The British heavy cruiser Exeter, which was at the forefront, became the unlucky first bird. First, the C turret at the stern was penetrated by a PC-250 bomb, which triggered a deceleration caused by a big explosion (the speed dropped to 11 knots). Then it was caught up by the Scharnhorst, and 280mm shells fell like raindrops, quickly turning the Exeter into a fire ship.

This heavy cruiser with a standard displacement of 8555 tons also followed the footsteps of the London and became a victim of the 280mm cannon of the Scharnhorst. In less than half an hour, it broke into two sections after a violent explosion and sank into the Atlantic Ocean.

Seeing the tragic end of the Exeter, the remaining 1 British heavy cruiser and the Sheffield light cruiser did not dare to approach the Scharnhorst in any case, but just wandered outside the firepower range of the Scharnhorst's cannons.

And the Seydlitz took the opportunity to disappear in the vast ocean.

"Admiral, we lost the Exeter," Rear Admiral Phillips on the Revenge reported the latest battle report to Admiral Forbes with some sadness at 5:10. "In addition, we also lost the aircraft carrier Seydlitz."

"As long as the Scharnhorst is still there!" Admiral Forbes said, "If we sink it, the German commerce raiding fleet will not dare to appear again... In this way, we will defend the empire's maritime hegemony, so now it depends on the Hood."

Maritime hegemony is of course the most important to the British Empire!

If the Hood is sunk tonight and the Scharnhorst returns triumphantly, then the whole world will know: the end of the British Empire has come!

"Lieutenant General, the combat areas of 10 submarines, including U-37, U-38, U-39, U-40, U-41, U-43, U-44, U-47, U-65 and U-103, have been confirmed."

"Lieutenant General, the Seydlitz sent a telegram: Very safe, will enter radio silence."

"Lieutenant General, in the northwest direction, the radar found a large target, 30,000 meters away!"

In the command tower of the "Scharnhorst", the atmosphere suddenly became extremely solemn. The "large target" 30,000 meters away is most likely the battlecruiser "Hood"!

"Blackout of the entire ship!" Captain Reifman immediately gave the order.

It is now 7:44 in the evening, there is no moon in the sky, and the visibility at sea is extremely low. For the "Scharnhorst" with radar, this is good weather. Although the Hood can also get guidance from the light cruiser with radar (in addition to the Sheffield, the Hood also has an anti-aircraft escort ship equipped with radar), it is ultimately not comparable to having its own radar.

"Pull up the curtains in the conning tower as well. We can't let in any light now." Captain Reifman finally ordered the staff to draw the thick curtains. The entire warship is like a giant beast hidden in the darkness, quietly waiting for its prey to take the bait.